Three Roses
by AquaStarlight
Summary: There are many ways to show that you love someone. However, Leaf doesn't think that anyone loves her. When Valentine's Day comes she is in her flower shop, selling flowers to insure the love of other couples, but what she doesn't expect is a package for her - nor can she believe who it's from, or what's inside... Conflictingshipping. LeafxBlue. One-shot.


**Summary: ****There are many ways to show that you love someone. However, Leaf doesn't think that anyone loves her. When Valentines Day comes she is in her flower shop, selling flowers to insure the love of other couples, but what she doesn't expect is a package for her - nor can she believe who it's from, or what's inside... Conflictingshipping. LeafxBlue. One-shot.**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own pokemon or the characters or anything associated with it. All I own is the writing. C:

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Leaf was tending to some of the flowers in her shop when a young man entered, a nervous smile on his face. The girl took one look at him before leaving the flowers and going to stand behind the front desk as the man approached it.

"Hello, what can I help you with, sir?" she asked.

"Uh… c-can I get a bouquet of eleven red roses?" the man stammered, twiddling his thumbs around each other anxiously.

Leaf allowed for a small, amused smile to form on her lips. She knew that today was Valentine's Day, and that red roses symbolized love and eleven of them meant "you are my treasured one; the one I love most in my life". No doubt this man wanted flowers for his special someone.

"Of course," she smiled, already moving towards the rose section to retrieve the requested flowers.

Plucking eleven of the red roses, she tied them together with a ribbon and headed back towards the man, handing him the flowers once she reached him. "Here you go, sir. I'm sure she'll love them," she added with a wink.

The man gave a small laugh before pulling out his wallet to pay for the flowers. However, Leaf quickly intervened.

"You don't have to pay for these," she told him with a grin, "It's enough for me to know that somebody will be happy when they receive the flowers I grew on Valentine's Day."

The man smiled. "Thank you, miss. I was planning on proposing to my girlfriend tonight – that's why I'm so nervous. She adores roses, you see," he explained, his eyes shining. "I love her so much; we've known each other since we were little, and she's the most beautiful girl in the world. I really hope she says yes."

Leaf felt a tug at her heartstrings; this man just _had _to remind her about _that _boy – who also coincidentally happened to be her childhood friend and her long-time crush – didn't he? She quickly shook her head to clear her mind of thoughts about_ him. "_I hope she says yes too; you seem like a really great guy," she smiled again, but this time it was fake.

"Thank you so much, you really don't know how much these flowers mean to me," the man thanked her before exiting the shop, gripping the bouquet of red roses in one hand.

Leaf sighed and leaned against the counter once he left, her forest green eyes darkening. Today was a day for couples to express their love to each other and people to confess – but she knew she would just be sitting here alone all day, aiding other people with their love life while hers was stuck at a standstill.

She had liked _him _for so long, yet he acted like she was just any other person. Sure, they had been friends at one time – back when they were like, what, _five?_ – but now she was nearly 100% certain that he hated her guts. They hadn't called each other _rivals_ when they were out on their pokemon journeys for nothing, you know.

Pushing herself away from the counter and letting out a frustrated sigh she started towards the tulips, knowing that they needed to be watered, but the ringing of the bell on the door alerted her to someone's entrance into the shop before she could.

She turned, expecting it to be another customer, but cocked an eyebrow in suspicion when she saw the post man standing there.

"Larry, what are you doing here? You don't deliver mail on holidays," she stated, her hand hovering over the watering can she had been about to grab. She pulled her hand away and placed it disapprovingly on her hip as the mail man approached.

"I normally don't, but I have a package for you that needed to be delivered today," he explained, opening his mail bag and rummaging through it for Leaf's package.

"A package, for me?" she asked, her brow furrowing as she tried to figure out what it could be. She _had_ ordered a new watering can – the old one had a large crack down the side that she had to put duct tape over to keep it from leaking – but she didn't expect it to arrive for another week or so. And she doubted a watering can could fit inside a mail pouch. What could it be, then?

Noticing her confused expression, the mail man smiled as he tugged something out of his satchel. "A young man requested that I made sure this got to you – quite a handsome young fellow he was, too. Definitely a keeper," he winked at Leaf, his smile turning into a smirk as the girl blushed vividly.

He handed her a small box and tipped his hat at her before exiting the shop, leaving her to stare blankly at the small parcel in her hands as a million thoughts ran through her head. It said "To Leaf" on the top, but it didn't state who it was from.

Larry had said that a young man told him to deliver this – now Leaf wanted to figure out who this "young man" was. Who were all the young men she knew, anyways?

Let's see, there was Red, but he was her cousin and had been missing for several years, so she doubted it was from him. Could it be from…_him_? No…not _him_. He barely even remembered her birthday – he wouldn't care to think about her on this day of the year.

They were really the only two "young men" she knew though, so who else could it be? Some secret admirer she didn't know about? She had done well enough back in the Kanto League when she was younger, but not enough that she would have a ton of fans like Red and… _Blue._

Oh gosh, it was painful just to think about _him._

Quickly, to distract herself, Leaf careful opened the package – and was quite surprised when she saw what was inside of it.

It was just one, single red rose, yet it made Leaf gasp. One red rose meant 'love at first sight; you are the one'. She could hardly believe her eyes as she delicately grabbed the thornless rose by its stem, holding it up so she could see it better in the light.

It was beautiful; the petals a vibrant, bright red and opened just enough to show off how pretty the rose was. A sweet smell emanated from the flower, and Leaf smiled as she breathed in the scent. She never realized how much she loved the smell of roses until now.

She slowly walked back to the counter, mesmerized by the rose as she wondered who had sent it to her. She set down the box the rose had been in and turned away to find a vase to put the rose in – only to spot something poking out of the box at the last second.

Facing the opened package again, she curiously peered into the box, and noticed a folded slip of paper lying on the bottom of it. She had probably been so entranced by the rose that she hadn't noticed the piece of paper. Holding the rose with one hand, she plucked the note out of the box and fingered the edge, wondering if she should open it.

After delicately setting the flower down on the counter, she unfolded the note; smoothening it out as she read the words written on it.

_Meet me at the National Park as soon as you get this note. I'll be waiting by the fountain._

Leaf felt the blood rise to her cheeks, unmistakably forming a blush. She didn't even know _who_ the note and rose were from, and yet this mysterious "young man" wanted to meet up with her? Still, she was absolutely flattered and really wanted to find out who had given her the rose, and so she quickly snatched up her coat and closed the flower shop; locking the door before heading towards the National Park.

When Leaf had first come to Johto by the Magnet Train, one of the first places she had visited was the National Park, and she had fallen in love with it. She had always loved nature and to see a park so beautiful just made her heart swell with happiness. Whoever this "young man" was obviously knew what Leaf liked.

She quickly walked down the busy streets of Goldenrod City towards the National Park, brushing past happy couples strolling down the lane arm-and-arm, gazing at each other affectionately. Leaf might have stopped to watch them and fantasize what it would be like if her and her prince charming did that one day – _if_ she didn't know that the man who might turn out to be him was waiting for her at the park.

After what seemed like an eternity she reached the gate that lead into the park, and had to hold herself back from running inside. When she stepped out of the little building and into the National Park she stopped for a moment, closing her eyes and letting the cool breeze blow over her as she breathed in the earthy scent of nature.

This place was always so calming to Leaf. As she opened her eyes and looked around, she felt all of her worries drain away and smiled before heading towards the fountain located in the center of the park.

There weren't many people in the park, and all of the people that were there were couples; taking a stroll together down the many paths leading around the park. Leaf skirted past them as the fountain came into sight, her heart starting to beat faster.

She approached the fountain slowly, each step more hesitant than the last as she neared the beautiful water display.

Nobody was there.

Her heart fell; she shouldn't have gotten her hopes up. Thinking back, it had probably been a prank the entire time; a stupid, _stupid_ prank that Leaf had fallen for. Sighing, she shifted her weight from one foot to the other, ready to turn around and head home. However, something laying on the edge of the fountain caught her eye.

Curious as a Meowth she approached it, trying to figure out what it was. It was red, and it looked like a…!

Leaf blinked in surprise when she recognized the flower lying on the rim of the fountain. She looked around, spotting no one else around that the flower could be for, before cautiously taking a step closer.

It was another thornless, red rose – exactly like the one she had received in her shop. It might have been even more beautiful than the first one. That meant that she had two roses now.

A light pink tint covered her cheeks as she picked the rose up, and was startled and barely managed to catch the scrap of paper that fell off of it before it landed in the fountain. This piece of paper was bigger and had more writing on it.

Carefully holding the rose, she read this note, too:

_You probably think I'm a jerk and don't pay attention to you, but in reality every time I see you I can't stop looking at you. Ever since we were little I've had feelings for you and I just wanted to say…_

The note ended there, and Leaf blinked, confused, before she sensed the presence of another person behind her. She spun around, ready to defend herself if whatever it was behind her was a threat, only to freeze in shock when she saw _him_ standing a few feet away from her.

Her heart leapt into her throat as he approached her; she could only stare up at him wide-eyed with her mouth hanging open as he stopped in front of her.

With his azure eyes shining and that signature smirk on his face, he pulled something out of his pocket and held it up for Leaf to take.

She gasped.

It was a third rose, which she knew meant…

"…I love you," Blue whispered.

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**A/N:** Happy Valentines Day, everyone! c: I hope you all have that special someone who told you they loved you today. (Or, y'know, you could be a single loner like me. Then again, since when have I cared about having a boyfriend? That's right – _**NEVER.**_ XD All I need is Blue- /shot)

Anyways, I wrote this a few months back and was saving it to post today, so if you find any grammar mistakes it's probably because I didn't know about them when I wrote this and I didn't catch it when I went back and edited it today.

And also, I found the meanings of the roses and stuff mentioned in this story on some random website one day, which sparked inspiration for this. c: Just if you're wondering if I made that stuff up or not.

Aaaaaaaaand here's a little extra of what happened after the ending:

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Leaf stared at Blue in shock; her hands flying up to cover her mouth.

"B-Blue?" she whispered, taking the rose from him and looking at it before slowly looking back up at him.

"The one and only," he teased lightly.

Leaf tried to hide a small smile, and looked away as she felt her face heat up. Focusing her attention on the roses in her hand, she recalled his words from just a minute before. Her face burned even hotter as she thought of them.

"Did…did you really mean what you said?" she asked in a small voice, not looking at him. "That you lo… You l-lo…" Not being able to say the words, Leaf looked down at the ground, embarrassed. She couldn't think of any reason why his words would be true.

Then, she felt a hand under her chin, and Blue tilted her head back up so that she was staring into his sparkling eyes. A small smile played on his lips as he leaned closer to her; so close that Leaf could feel his breath on her cheeks when he exhaled.

"Yes, I do love you," he whispered once again, and then his lips were on Leaf's, kissing her tenderly. She made a small sound of surprise; she knew Blue was very straight forward, but for him to kiss her so easily…

She let these thoughts drift out of her mind as he wrapped his arms around her, and relaxed into his embrace as the sound of the water trickling down the fountain played into the silent evening around them…

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Haha okay maybe that wasn't the best way to end it… but still, they ended up kissing, didn't they? C:

-AquaStarlight


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